Brilliant performances from Agate Caune and Niels Laros confirmed distance running doubles as the European Athletics U20 Championships came to a close in Jerusalem on Thursday (10).
Latvian Caune was simply majestic as she ran away from a quality field to win the women’s 5000m, smashing Elvan Abeylegesse’s 22-year-old championship record by a massive 17.27 seconds. With barely a quarter of the race gone, Caune was already 60 metres clear to make it from that point a race against the clock.
Consistently lapping between 71-73 seconds, no one could live with the Latvian who poured on the pace and still had the energy to produce a 70-second final lap to finish in 15:03.83, taking over nine seconds off her personal best and – naturally – setting another national U20 record.
It was an even more impressive performance than the 28-second winning margin Caune recorded in winning the 3000m on Wednesday.
Germany’s Kira Weis just got the better of 1500m silver medallist Sofia Thogersen to take silver with 15:50.36 to the Dane’s 15:53.08. They were also the only two athletes in the 26-strong field who Caune did not lap.
“I didn't think I would run so fast,” admitted Caune after the race. “But I felt great during the race and I'm extremely happy about the record result. I had the splits and my coach told me to push if I feel great, so I did, and I'm so happy.
“Before the race I thought maybe I could break the record, and then during the race I felt great and I thought ‘Ok, you can push, you just need to push, you need to challenge yourself’.”
Agate Caune has arrived! ✨
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 10, 2023
The Latvian smashes the 5000m championship record with 15:03.85 to win her second gold medal! 🇱🇻✌️ pic.twitter.com/gjiDj8U1NI
Laros was more contained as he added 5000m gold to the 1500m title he claimed earlier in the week. Hungarian outsider Gabor Karsai made a bold solo bid for glory from early in the race, stretching out to a 30-metre lead by 3000m.
But as they entered the final lap, the pack descended on him, led by Laros and 3000m gold medallist Jonathan Grahn of Sweden. Laros turned on the burners and although it looked like Grahn could live it with it, the Dutchman found an extra gear and saluted the crowd as he surged away in the home straight to celebrate another gold.
He finished in 14:11.82, with Grahn capping a fine week with silver in 14:12.73. Austria’s Kevin Kamenschak overcame Great Britain & Northern Ireland's James Dargan to take bronze by 0.50 seconds in 14:15.02. The gutsy Karsai finished fifth in 14:18.70.
“It was a tough race of course,” admitted Laros. “5k is always heavy and with competitors like Jonathan and Kevin it isn't given to you for free. I had to pay attention to the guys in front because I was at the back. If there was a gap I had to go there.
“I had a nice plan with Kevin, my teammate and training partner, and I think it went well - first and third place go well together. Grahn was really good, I had to push the last metres to get rid of him. It gives you a boost of energy, you show yourself to the people and when I get to the homestretch and I know that I'm winning, it's nice to enjoy a few stands of people.”
Graber grabs decathlon gold
Amadeus Graber of Germany came out on top in the men’s decathlon with all three medallists finishing with personal bests above 8000 points after two gruelling days. Sitting in second place overnight, Graber’s better day is typically day two and this was certainly true in Jerusalem.
Last year’s European U18 champion strung together new personal bests in the 110m hurdles (14.12), discus (44.68m), pole vault (5.10m) and javelin (60.15m) to put him firmly in control ahead of the 1500m. He could afford to run a solid 4:41.86 to take gold in another personal best of 8209.
Austrian Matthias Lasch was the biggest mover on day two though, coming from an overnight position of ninth to take the silver medal with 8052. Bronze medallist Andrin Huber of Switzerland finished with a flourish winning the 1500m in 4:20.40 to total 8009 points.
The decathlon class of #Jerusalem2023! 🙌
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 10, 2023
Amadeus Graber 🇩🇪 is crowned European U20 decathlon champion with a world U20 lead of 8209 points! pic.twitter.com/dMAtk0nijc
Viktor Morozov took Estonia’s only gold of the championship, and their first gold since 2011, by winning the men’s triple jump with a European U20 lead and national U20 record of 16.45m (+0.6m/s) in the second round. Bozhidar Sarâboyukov of Bulgaria added another silver to the long jump medal he won earlier in the week with 16.25m (+0.5m/s) and his compatriot Lâchezar Vâlchev took bronze with 16.16m (+0.7m/s).
Afterwards, Morozov expressed his relief. “I wanted to show the best possible performance because I knew I was capable to jump very far. We did a good job with my coach and also in previous years - in Tallinn I was third in 2021, last year, I was also third at the world juniors (U20) and I wanted gold. But I was not 100 percent confident about it - I just stayed calm and now, mission is done.”
Relay glory for Swiss, Germans, French and British
A well-drilled Swiss team took the men’s 4x100m title from some of the more fancied nations. Slick changeovers were key to their victory. Taking the baton with a five-metre lead, 200m finalist Manuel Gerber kept his form on the anchor leg to bring home the gold in 39.87. The Netherlands took silver, just edging Germany by 0.01, finishing in 40.14.
For Dutch second leg runner Timo Spiering, it was a second silver, following similar success in the 200m final.
The women’s 4x100m final brought a clash of two familiar foes as Germany and Great Britain & Northern Ireland contested the gold. No nation other than these has won this title since 2007.
Germany had a marginal lead into the final leg and Holly Okuku held her nerve and her form to hold off 200m bronze medallist Success Eduan for gold. With both France and Switzerland failing to finish, the Czech Republic took advantage to win bronze in 44.68.
Germany’s victory capped a superb championships for third leg runner Rosina Schneider, who also won the 100m hurdles title earlier in the week.
There was high drama in the women’s 4x400m final. It looked like it was between the Netherlands and Germany in the final leg. But having finished fourth in the 200m final and being part of the French quartet that failed to finish the 4x100m final, Benedetta Kouakou was not short on motivation.
Running the anchor leg, she clawed away at the advantage and just dipped ahead of 400m bronze medallist Myrte Van Der Schoot to snatch gold by just 0.02 seconds, finishing in 3:33:31. There was an agonising end to the race for Germany’s Anouk Krause-Jentsch who fell just one metre shy of the finishing line, allowing 400m individual winner Lurdes Gloria Manuel to pinch bronze for the Czech Republic in a national U20 record of 3:34.84.
French 4x400m teams 🤝 dramatic finishes 🇫🇷🍿
— European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) August 10, 2023
What an incredible anchor from Benedetta Kouakou! 😧🤯#Jerusalem2023 pic.twitter.com/uagPPmsutg
The men’s 4x400m was dominated by Great Britain & Northern Ireland who led right from a strong opening leg by individual silver medallist Charlie Carvell. It left anchor runner Sam Lunt under pressure to deliver. However, Lunt made up for his 7th place finish in the 400m hurdles final by running a measured leg to hold off Germany’s charging Elija Ziem to win gold in 3:06.89. Germany won silver in 3:07.75 and France won bronze in 3:07.97.
Germany finished the championships at the top of the medal table with a huge tally 23 medals, consisting of eight gold, eight silver and seven bronze, the athletics powerhouse's best performance since 2009.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics